Toy building set

ABSTRACT

A toy building set comprising a group of building elements, each having at least one ball  1, 2  arranged on the building element, and where the ball  1, 2  is connected to other parts of the building element via a connection rod  3, 4,  and where the toy building set further comprises at least one element having a socket formed by two jaws  5,  being arranged and adapted for receiving said ball  1, 2  in order to form a ball and socket joint, and where the cross section of the connection rod  3,  from where it is connected to the ball  1  and at least a distance away from the ball  1,  is smaller than the cross section of the ball  1,  so that it gives a certain degree of freedom for the socket to rotate around the ball  1.  The connection rods  3, 4  also comprise connections rods  4  having a relatively large cross section, so that the connection rods  4  with a relatively large cross section reduces the degree of freedom for the socket to rotate around the ball  2.

The present invention relates to a toy building set comprising a groupof building elements, each having at least one ball arranged on thebuilding element, and where the ball is connected to other parts of thebuilding element via a connection rod, and where the toy building setfurther comprises at least one element having a socket arranged andadapted for receiving said ball in order to form a ball and socketjoint, and where the cross section of the connection rod, from where itis connected to the ball and at least a distance away from the ball, issmaller than the cross section of the ball, so that it gives a certaindegree of freedom for the socket to rotate around the ball.

Thereby it is possible for e.g. a child to build constructions, such astoy figures having articulated body parts.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

An example of such a toy building set is known from EP patentapplication no. 856341 disclosing a number of separate building elementsthat can be connected via ball and socket joints to form an articulatedtoy figure.

The problem in relation to this kind of toy building sets is that itdoes not provide many different ways of connecting the separate elementsto each other.

In relation to toy building sets it is therefore a constant challenge toprovide such building sets that gives the possibility to build manydifferent constructions or figures by using the same basic elements.

This is achieved to a certain degree with the toy building set accordingto U.S. Pat. No. 579,681, disclosing many different kinds of elementshaving coupling balls and complementary sockets that can be connected toeach other in many different ways to form articulated figures orconstructions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is to provide a toy buildingset giving the user more different ways of building articulated figureshaving different patterns of possible movements.

This is obtained by the present invention according to claim 1 furtherspecifying that the group of building elements comprises a first and asecond type of connecting rods, and in that the first type of connectionrod, at least close to the ball, has a cross section being relativelylarger than the corresponding cross section of the second type ofconnection rod, so that the relatively larger cross section of the firsttype of connection rod reduces the degree of freedom on which the socketcan rotate around a ball carried by the first type of connection rod,than the degree of freedom on which the socket can rotate around a ballcarried by the second type of connection rod.

Thereby the same socket can be mounted on two different both balls beingconnected to a building element by connection rods with different crosssections, and the degree of freedom on which the socket can rotatearound one of the balls will be more limited than the degree of freedomon which the socket can rotate around the other ball. Thereby it ispossible, with a relatively limited number of different buildingelements, to build many different figures or constructions and at thesame time providing more different patterns of possible movement orarticulation of the figure or construction.

In a preferred embodiment the connection rod has an axis of symmetry,and the axis of symmetry extends through the ball carried by theconnection rod. In this relation the axis of symmetry can preferablyextend through the centre of the ball.

The group of building elements may comprise at least one buildingelement having both a first and a second type of connections rods eachcarrying a ball. In this way the same building element can provide moredifferent patterns of movement or articulation.

A very simple element can in this relation be provided, if at least twoof the balls are interconnected by a common connection rod, andespecially if the common connection rod has one end forming the firsttype of connection rod having its relatively larger cross section nearone of the balls, and another end forming the second type of connectionrod having its smaller cross section near another ball.

A toy building set according to one or more of claim 4, 5 or 6,characterized in, that at the at least one of the building elements hasat least one ball having precisely two connecting rods of the first typeextending from it.

In this relation it is further possible that at least one other ball hasonly one connecting rod of the second type extending from it.

In a further preferred embodiment the socket is formed by two resilientjaws, each having a concave coupling surface facing the other jaw, andhaving a spacing that ensures that the coupling surfaces on the two jawslies against opposite sides of the ball, when the socket is mounted onthe ball.

In this relation it is advantageous if the concave coupling faces on thejaws extend between two side faces, and in that the distance between thetwo side faces, and the cross section of the first type of connectionrods are selected so that the jaws mounted on a ball carried by two ofthe first type of connection rods having a common axis of symmetry, canonly rotate around the common axis of symmetry of the two connectionsrods of the first type.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, the invention will be described in greater detail withreference to embodiments shown by the enclosed figures. It should beemphasized that the embodiments shown are used for example purposes onlyand should not be used to limit the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a simple construction built by using one of each of thebuilding elements shown on FIGS. 2, 3 and 4.

FIG. 2 is a side front of a first building element according to theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a second building element according to theinvention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a third building element according to theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are shown different embodiments of building elementsaccording to the present invention. From the description below it willbe evident to the skilled person that many different embodiments thanthe ones shown on FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are possible to suggest in order toprovide many different possibilities for building a toy construction,such as a toy figure or the like.

In the FIGS. 2 to 4, the building element has different numbers of balls1, 2 being connected to each other via two different types of connectingrods 3, 4 where the first type of connecting rods 4 has a cross sectionbeing larger than the cross section of the second type of connectingrods 3.

The embodiments according to FIGS. 3 and 4 has identical sockets eachformed by two jaws 5 having a concave surface 6 designed for providing asnap fit on any of the balls 1, 2, so that the socket 5 can slide on anyof the balls 1, 2 without being released from the ball 1, 2. In FIG. 3the jaws are shown in a front view, and in FIG. 4 the jaws are shown ina side view.

In this way the ball 1, 2 being connected to a socket will form anarticulated ball and socket joint, so that the building elements providethe possibility to build a number or different articulated constructionsor figures by using a varying numbers of building elements according tothe invention.

As mentioned above it will be possible for the skilled person to suggestother embodiments having more or less balls 1, 2 arranged in manydifferent positions with respect to each other, and be fixed together intheir relative positions by means of the two different connection rods3, 4. The two embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 shows that theconnecting rods 3, 4 are arranged along the same axis of symmetry Sshown by the dotted line, and in FIG. 2 the connecting rods 3, 4 arearranged along more symmetry lines arranged in common plan, and whereonly one is shown in the figure. It will be apparent that the skilledperson can come up with other arrangements of symmetry lines arranged in2 or 3 dimensions without departing from the idea of the presentinvention.

In this relation the building element according to FIG. 2 is designed tobe used as a corpus element for building a bone structure for a toyfigure, and the building elements according to FIGS. 3 and 4 could beused to be connected to the building element according to FIG. 2 inorder to form a bone structure for limb parts of the toy figure.

In FIG. 4 is now shown a simple construction built by using the buildingelements according to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. The building element accordingto FIG. 3 is mounted on the building element according to FIG. 2 bysnapping the jaws 5 on a ball 1 being carried by a connection rod 3having a relatively small cross section, and the building elementaccording to FIG. 4 is mounted on a ball 2 being carried by twoconnection rods 4 having a relatively larger cross section.

Hereby the jaws 5 and thereby the building element according to FIG. 4can, due to the relatively small cross section of the connecting rod 3,rotate around the ball 1 in all directions, and with a high degree offreedom.

On the other hand the relatively large cross section of the connectionrods 4 carrying the ball 2 on which the jaws 5 according to the buildingelement shown in FIG. 4, substantially only allows this building elementto rotate around the symmetry axis S when sliding on the ball 2.

In this way the building elements according to the present inventionprovides more different options for building a large number of differentconstructions or figures.

1. A toy building set comprising a group of building elements, eachhaving at least one ball arranged on the building element, and where theball is connected to other parts of the building element via aconnection rod, and where the toy building set further comprises atleast one element having a socket arranged and adapted for receivingsaid ball in order to form a ball and socket joint, and where the crosssection of the connection rod, from where it is connected to the balland at least a distance away from the ball, is smaller than the crosssection of the ball, so that it gives a certain degree of freedom forthe socket to rotate around the ball, characterized in, that the groupof building elements comprises a first and a second type of connectingrods, and in that the first type of connection rod, at least close tothe ball, has a cross section being relatively larger than thecorresponding cross section of the second type of connection rod, sothat the relatively larger cross section of the first type of connectionrod reduces the degree of freedom on which the socket can rotate arounda ball carried by the first type of connection rod, than the degree offreedom on which the socket can rotate around a ball carried by thesecond type of connection rod.
 2. A toy building set according to claim1, characterized in, that the connection rod has an axis of symmetry,and in that the axis of symmetry extends through the ball carried by theconnection rod.
 3. A toy building set according to claim 2,characterized in, that the axis of symmetry extends through the centreof the ball.
 4. A toy building set according to one or more of thepreceding claims, characterized in, that the group of building elementscomprises at least one building element having both a first and a secondtype of connections rods each carrying a ball.
 5. A toy building setaccording to claim 4, characterized in, that at least two of the ballsare interconnected by a common connection rod.
 6. A toy building setaccording to claim 5, characterized in, that the common connection rodhas one end forming the first type of connection rod having itsrelatively larger cross section near one of the balls, and another endforming the second type of connection rod having its smaller crosssection near another ball.
 7. A toy building set according to one ormore of claim 4, 5 or 6, characterized in, that at least one of theballs has precisely two connecting rods of the first type extending fromit.
 8. A toy building set according to one or more of claim 4, 5, 6 or 7characterized in and that at least one other ball has only oneconnecting rod of the second type extending from it.
 9. A toy buildingset according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in,that the socket is formed by two resilient jaws, each having a concavecoupling surface facing the other jaw, and having a spacing that ensuresthat the coupling surfaces on the two jaws lies against opposite sidesof the ball, when the socket is mounted on the ball.
 10. A toy buildingset according to claims 3, 7 and 9, characterized in, that the concavecoupling faces on the jaws extend between two side faces, and in thatthe distance between the two side faces, and the cross section of thefirst type of connection rods are selected so that the jaws mounted on aball carried by two of the first type of connection rods having a commonaxis of symmetry, can only rotate around the common axis of symmetry ofthe two connections rods of the first type.